Sermon Series: Zechariah: Rebuilding the Discouraged
Title: Guilty and Clothed: Zechariah 3
Speaker: Anthony Gammage
October 4, 2026
Passage: Zechariah 3
Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?” 3 Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. 4 And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.” 5 And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord was standing by.
6 And the angel of the Lord solemnly assured Joshua, 7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and keep my charge, then you shall rule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access among those who are standing here. 8 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for they are men who are a sign: behold, I will bring my servant the Branch. 9 For behold, on the stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with seven eyes, I will engrave its inscription, declares the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day. 10 In that day, declares the Lord of hosts, every one of you will invite his neighbor to come under his vine and under his fig tree.”
Sermon Outline
Big Idea: God doesn’t deny the charges. He changes your clothes.
- God Changes the Status (1-5)
- God Gives a Calling (6-7)
- God Sends a Better Priest (8-10)
Sermon Questions
- (vv. 1–5) Joshua never says a word in his own defense. What “true accusation” tends to replay in your mind, and what would it look like to answer it by pointing to what Christ has put on you? [If leading a group, this is sensitive territory and may be better for personal reflection than group work]
- (vv. 6–7) God clothes Joshua before he gives him a calling. Where are you tempted to serve God like hired help trying to keep a job instead of like a child in the family? What would change if you really believed God’s work of cleansing you comes before any effort on your part?
- (vv. 8–9) God calls Joshua “a sign” and points past him to the Branch, whose eyes see everything and who removes iniquity “in a single day.” Who or what are you tempted to lean on as your “Joshua,” expecting them to hold your life together? How does it change things to know you are fully seen by the Lamb and fully covered by him?